Bridging Device

ABSTRACT

A bridging device for an expansion joint, the expansion joint being placed between an abutment and a superstructure, comprises at least one plate that extends longitudinally of the joint, and is placed between the abutment and the superstructure, and which is supported on at least two traverses that span the expansion joint while resting upon the abutment and the superstructure. A tooth profile is placed on the top side of the plate and the teeth thereof, which point toward both sides, mesh with the teeth of teeth profiles assigned to the adjacent plates or edge profiles. Two sealing strips are connected to each plate and are detachably connected to the adjacent plate(s) or to the adjacent edge profile(s). Both sealing strips connected to the relevant plate are, in the area of the parting plane, fixed between the at least one plate and the tooth profile placed thereon.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of PCT/EP2005/008223, filed Jul. 28,2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a bridging device for an expansionjoint in a drivable structure, wherein the expansion joint is arrangedbetween an abutment bearing and a superstructure.

BACKGROUND

Bridging devices, as used particularly for road bridges to compensatefor changes in length of the superstructure caused in particular bythermal expansion, are known and used in various configurations. Adistinction is particularly made between bridging devices with platesthat are arranged inside the joint gap between and parallel to the edgesof the joint and which are supported on traverses spanning the expansionjoint (see for example DE 8816536 U1), on the one hand, and bridgingdevices without plates on the other hand. Bridging devices with platesare particularly suited for bridging expansion joints with comparativelylarge operating ranges (difference between maximum and minimum jointwidth). The tooth profiles arranged on the plates bring about a noisereduction when motor vehicles pass over the bridging device bypreventing the noise generated by the impact of the wheels of thevehicle on the plates, while with bridging devices without toothprofiles the impact noise generated on contact of the vehicle wheelswith the plates is eliminated.

Joint bridging devices featuring plates of the initially described type,in which the tooth profiles are detachably connected to the plates, areknown from DE 9803004 A1, DE 4138347 C3 and DE 4433909 C2, for example.Bridging devices for expansion joints featuring a construction similarto the bridging devices described above are also known, yet differ fromthis type in that the tooth profiles are welded onto the plates (see DE19705531 C2 and WO 02/27102 A1). As far as the connection of the sealingprofiles to the plates is concerned, clamping profiles are widely usedthat are bilaterally attached to the plates, and where the edges of thesealing profiles are buttoned into (see DE 19803004 A1).

In addition to bridging devices of the initially described type, inwhich the plates are supported on the traverses spanning the expansionjoint, designs with scissor-like support of the plates are also known,which, however, have not proven useful in practice and have thereforebeen rejected. In such known bridging devices (see U.S. Pat. No.6,022,169 A), retaining plates are attached laterally on the plates andin conjunction with the lateral wall of the corresponding plate define aretainer for the border of a sealing profile. Toothed ledges arranged onthe top of the plate protrude over the borders located in the retainersin the tooth area to secure the position of the sealing profiles.

The bridging devices of the initially described type and illustratedabove have thoroughly proven their worth in practical applications asfar as their basic functions are concerned. However, it would bedesirable if they could be manufactured with less technical effort andat lower cost, and if the risk of impairment of utility resulting fromdirt accumulation could be further reduced.

Against the background of the prior art outlined above, the presentinvention is based on the object of providing a particularly reliablebridging device in conformity with its type that can be manufactured andinstalled with especially little technical effort and at low cost.

SUMMARY

The bridging device of the present invention has the followingcharacteristics, namely edge profiles provided on one of the sides ofboth the abutment bearing and superstructure; at least one plate thatextends in longitudinal direction of the joint between the abutmentbearing and the superstructure, where the plate is supported by at leasttwo traverses that span the expansion joint and rest on the abutmentbearing and superstructure; a tooth profile arranged on the top side ofat least one plate with its teeth projecting sideways on both sides andmeshing with the teeth of the tooth profiles arranged on the adjacentplates or edge profiles; and elastic sealing profiles detachablyconnected to the corresponding edge profile and plate and/or bothcorresponding plates arranged between the edge profile on the side ofthe abutment bearing and the adjacent plate, the edge profile on theside of the superstructure and the adjacent plate and/or both adjacentplates.

An essential feature of the bridging device according to the presentinvention is that in a bridging device of the initially illustratedtype, the two sealing profiles connected to the respective plates in thearea of the parting plane are clamped between the at least one plate andthe tooth profile attached thereto. To facilitate this clamping, tworeceiving grooves arranged between the at least one plate and the toothprofile attached to it in the area of the parting plane, where saidreceiving grooves are open sideways and bordered by the surface sectionsof the tooth profile and the plate, where the edge sections of the twosealing profiles connected to the respective plate are clamped to.According to the present invention, the at least one plate basicallythus discloses a flat upper sealing surface and receiving grooveslimited by recesses, which are arranged on the underside of the toothprofile facing the plate. This is particularly advantageous in thisrespect, as in this case the plates can be made of inexpensive,commercially available standard components or rolled profiles, inparticular HEM, IPE or comparable double-T beams, which require nofurther processing regarding the connection of the sealing profiles.

The invention further discloses special advantages by having the toothprofiles according to the present invention detachably mounted on theplates. By attaching the sealing profiles to the respective plate byclamping the sealing profile in the area of the respective separatingplane between the plate and the tooth profile mounted on it, the sealingprofiles may be mounted with minimum effort, namely in the course ofmounting the tooth profiles. With regard to reliability, it is therebyparticularly advantageous that on account of their clamping according tothe present invention, and despite low assembly requirements, thesealing profiles can be connected particularly firmly and therebyparticularly reliably and durably to the plates, particularly in thecase of the arrangement of (particularly undercut) receiving grooves inwhich the borders of the sealing profiles are positioned and clamped fortheir connection to the respective plate.

With respect to the costs related to the production of the bridgingdevice, it has proven to be advantageous that bridging devices accordingto the present invention only require a particularly small number ofindividual components and may be manufactured resorting to standardand/or standardized, if necessary, modular components at comparably lowcost to a larger extent than usual for prior art bridging devices inconformity with this type. For this purpose, it is important that onpractical application of the present invention, neither separateclamping or fastening ledges with suitable grooves to receive theborders of the sealing profile nor separate retaining plates borderingthe retaining grooves in conjunction with the lateral walls of theplates, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,169 A, are provided. Owingto the embodiment of the tooth profiles according to the presentinvention, not even the plates must be arranged with specific grooves orrecesses to receive the borders of the sealing profiles (see above). Asfar as the reliability of the bridging device is concerned, it hasproven to be advantageous that in the bridging devices according to thepresent invention the sealing profiles can be arranged in relativelyclose proximity below the tooth profiles. This counteracts thefunctional impairment of the bridging device posed by an accumulation ofdirt on the sealing profile and thus contributes to increasedreliability. An especially advantageous embodiment of the presentinvention in this respect is found in that the sealing profiles areconfigured as hump profiles (see DE 29907832 U1), where particularly atleast 70% of the space defined by the reinforcement of the sealingprofiles and both associated tooth profiles are located below the humpsection.

Basically, the sealing profiles are preferably clamped continuouslybetween the plate and tooth profile over their entire length. This meansthat individual sections in which the sealing profile is not clampedbetween the plate and the tooth profile—e.g. due to segmentation of thetooth profile with tolerance joints between the individual tooth profilesegments (see below)—have a maximum width of 10 mm (0.39 inches),whereby the ratio of free sections of this type to the overall length ofthe sealing profile along the joint is maximum 10%. More advantageousand, in general, technically smoothly feasible are maximum widths of theindividual free sections of 5 mm (0.20 inches), with the sectionsamounting to a maximum of 5%, preferably still a maximum of 2%, of theoverall length of the sealing profile. Since the tooth profile thereforerests completely, or at least almost continuously, on the edge of thesealing profile, the sealing profile may be reliably clamped with lowsurface pressure that minimizes the effect of jolting. Even moresignificant for practical applications is the complete or at leastessentially continuous cover of the borders of the sealing profile, sothat neither dirt nor moisture may penetrate in any appreciable amount.

Compared to the design according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,169 A, thecorresponding bridging device thus also excels by increased reliabilitysince, according to the related prior art, the edge of the sealingprofile is exposed between two teeth, which means that no secure mountfor the sealing profile exists and, additionally, significant amounts ofdirt and moisture may penetrate into the retainer of the edge of thesealing profile. This sealing problem and thus reliability problem canbe prevented by practical application of the present invention.

The advantages illustrated above not only come in useful on initialassembly of the bridging device but are even more evident duringmaintenance operations, since maintenance may entail replacement of thesealing profiles if required, which is particularly easy andcost-effective to perform in bridging devices according to the presentinvention, as described above.

Another preferred embodiment of bridging devices arranged according tothe present invention with tooth profiles detachably connected to theplates features tooth profiles screwed onto the plates, preferably fromabove. It is particularly advantageous if the screws are staggered withrespect to the center of the respective plate (and/or of the toothprofile), so that they are arranged alternately in particularly closeproximity to the two receiving grooves where the borders of the sealingprofiles connected to the respective plate are clamped to. Laterallystaggering the screws in this way is particularly advantageous forweight deflection of the forces acting on the tooth profiles into theplate.

The teeth of the tooth profile projecting sideways on both sides arepreferably offset from one another by a half pitch. In particular, theteeth provided on both sides of the tooth profile can overlap each otherso that each of the tooth bases are offset in relation to the center ofthe plates in the opposite direction than that of the adjacent teethtips. This is particularly advantageous with respect to the operatingrange of the bridging device.

The tooth profile attached to the plate may consist of a series ofmultiple individual, particularly identical, tooth profile segments, thelengths of which may be equal to, for example, 1 time or preferably 2times the value of the pitch of the row of teeth. This may prove to beadvantageous, for example, to the extent that in this case a damagedtooth profile segment can be replaced with little effort and within theshortest period of time, which is particularly advantageous in theinterest of minimal intervention in traffic during required maintenancework. If the tooth profile is configured as a series of individual toothprofile segments in this manner, the edges between two adjacent toothprofile segments preferably extend at an angle to the longitudinaldirection of the plate.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the toothprofile or, as the case may be, each tooth profile segment has a lowerbase plate section resting against the plate and designed in particularas strip-like in form and an upper tooth plate section. It isparticularly preferable that the width of the base platesection—featuring no rows of teeth—essentially corresponds to the widthof the upper section of the plate to which the tooth profile isconnected. This is advantageous both with respect to the structuralconditions and with respect to a reliable connection of the sealingprofiles to the plates. Depending on the specific circumstances, thebase plate section and the tooth plate section may be producedseparately and then joined to form the corresponding tooth profile, inparticular welded to one another, or the corresponding tooth profile mayinstead be produced as a single-piece design, for example throughforging, casting or machining.

Finally, according to another preferred embodiment of the invention, thepitch of the row of teeth is equal to to between 0.8 times and 1.5 timesthe width of the plate, where it is particularly preferable that the rowof teeth is given an essentially sinusoidal or triangular shape withrounded tooth tips and rounded tooth bases. This creates particularlyadvantageous structural conditions, while at the same time resulting inparticularly low noise emission when a vehicle travels across thebridging device.

It shall be pointed out only for clarification purposes that the term“parting plane” as defined in the scope of the present invention shallin no way be understood so as to limit the tooth profile and the plateto abuting in a plane in the geometric sense. Instead, the abutmentbearing surface may also be arched, stepped, angled or otherwiseconfigured to deviate from a geometric plane. Likewise, for the sake ofclarity, it shall be pointed out that the assertion stating that thereceiving grooves are open “on the side” is not be understood as tolimit the receiving grooves to being configured in such a way that thesealing profiles extend more or less horizontally in the area of theopenings of the receiving grooves. Instead, the sealing profiles mayprotrude from the receiving grooves in the area of the openings thereofmore or less at an angle, particularly at a downward angle, if itappears expedient in the individual case, for example when the base gapsection of the tooth profile protrudes sidewards over the plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be explained in greater detail hereinafter withreference being made to a preferred exemplary embodiment schematicallyillustrated in the figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the crucial region of a bridgingdevice according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a top view of a plate with two tooth profile segments of thebridging device according to FIG. 1, screwed thereon, and

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional illustration of the bridging deviceaccording to FIG. 1 shown in greater context.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The bridging device 1, which is illustrated in the figures only to theextent that is required for the essential features of the presentinvention, for an expansion joint D arranged between an abutment bearingW and a superstructure features an edge profile R arranged on one of thesides of both the abutment bearing and superstructure in a known mannerand anchored thereto in a known manner. A plurality of plates 2extending in the longitudinal direction of the joint are arrangedbetween the abutment bearing and the superstructure and are alsosupported in the known manner on two traverses spanning the expansionjoint and resting on the abutment bearing and the superstructure. Theplates 2 are each configured as HEM beams comprising an upper flange 3,a web 4 and, shown only in FIG. 3, a lower flange.

A tooth profile 6 is arranged on the top side 5 of each plate 2 with theteeth 7 and 8 projecting sideways on both sides and meshing with theteeth of tooth profiles 6 a of adjacent plates 2 a in a known manner. Inaddition to this, several identical tooth profile segments 9 forming aseries are screwed to the upper flange 3 of each plate 2, where eachtooth profile segment is secured by means of four screws 10, which arescrewed into corresponding threaded holes 11 provided in the upperflange 3. The screws are staggered in relation to the center 12 of thetooth profile 6. The teeth 7 on one side of the tooth profile 6 areoffset by half a pitch in relation to the teeth 8 on the other side ofthe tooth profile. Furthermore, the teeth 7 and 8 on both sides of thetooth profile 6 overlap each other in such a way that each of the teethbases 13 are offset in relation to the center 12 of the plates 2 in theopposite direction than that of the adjacent teeth tips 14.

Each tooth profile segment 9 features a lower base plate section 15,which rests on the upper flange 3 of the associated plate 2 and has anessentially strip-like shape, and an upper tooth plate section 16, whichis bordered laterally by two rows of teeth. The width of the base platesection 15 corresponds to the width of the upper flange 3 of theassociated plate 2.

While the upper end surface 17 of the plate 2 is essentially levelacross the entire width of the upper flanges 3, the tooth profilesegments 9 on the bottoms of the base plate sections 15 have tworecesses 18 disposed adjacent to the side edges. These recesses, inconjunction with the opposite surface of the plate 2, each form areceiving groove 20 open sideways and arranged between plate 2 and thetooth profile 6 in the area of the parting plane 19. An edge section 21of the elastic sealing profile 22 is clamped in this receiving groove 20bordered by the surface segments of the tooth profile 6 and plate 2,while said profile is connected to the adjacent plate 2 a by itsopposite edge section 21 a in a corresponding manner.

The sealing profile 22 is configured as a hump profile. It comprises ajoist 23 formed by two sides disposed in an essentially V-shapedformation and a hat-shaped hump section 24. The sealing profile isadjusted to the plates 2, 2 a and the tooth profiles 6, 6 a in such away that at least 70% of the space defined by the joist 23 of thesealing profile 22 and the two associated tooth profiles 6, 6 a islocated beneath the hump section 24.

The edge 25 between two adjoining tooth profile segments 9 extends at anangle to the longitudinal direction L of the plate 2. The edges jointmay be sealed using a suitable sealant, particularly a permanentlyelastic sealant.

1. A bridging device for an expansion joint arranged between an abutmentbearing and a superstructure in a drivable structure, comprising: edgeprofiles provided on one of the sides of both the abutment bearing andsuperstructure; at least one plate that extends in a longitudinaldirection of the expansion joint arranged between the abutment bearingand the superstructure, where the plate is supported by at least twotraverses that span the expansion joint and rest on the abutment bearingand superstructure; a tooth profile arranged on a top side of the atleast one plate with its teeth projecting sideways on both sides andmeshing with teeth of tooth profiles arranged on adjacent edge profilesor plates; elastic sealing profiles detachably connected to thecorresponding edge profile and plate and/or both corresponding platesarranged between the edge profile on the side of the abutment bearingand the adjacent plate, the edge profile on the superstructure side andthe adjacent plate and/or both adjacent plates; and two receivinggrooves arranged between the at least one plate and the tooth profileattached to it in the area of a parting plane, where said grooves areopen sideways and bordered by surface sections of the tooth profile andthe plate, where edge sections of the elastic sealing profiles connectedto the respective plate are clamped thereto; the at least one platedisclosing a flat upper sealing surface and receiving grooves limited byrecesses, which are arranged on the underside of the tooth profilefacing the at least one plate.
 2. The bridging device according to claim1, wherein the elastic sealing profiles are arranged as hump profiles.3. The bridging device according to claim 2, wherein at least 70% of thespace delimited by the reinforcement of the sealing profile and bothassociated tooth profiles are located below the hump section.
 4. Thebridging device according to claim 1, wherein the tooth profile isscrewed to the at least one plate.
 5. The bridging device according toclaim 4, wherein the screws are staggered and offset alernately withrespect to a center of the tooth profile.
 6. The bridging deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the teeth are offset against each other byhalf a pitch on both sides of the tooth profile.
 7. The bridging deviceaccording to claim 6, wherein the teeth intersect each other on bothsides of the tooth profile.
 8. The bridging device according to claim 1,wherein the tooth profile comprises a lower base plate section adjacentto the at least one plate, and an upper tooth plate section.
 9. Thebridging device according to claim 1, wherein the tooth profilecomprises a sequence of several individual tooth profile segmentsattached to the at least one plate.
 10. The bridging device according toclaim 9, wherein edges between two adjoining tooth profile segmentsextend obliquely to the longitudinal direction of the at least oneplate.
 11. The bridging device according to claim 9, wherein the lengthof at least one part of the tooth profile segments is equal to thesingle or double value of the gearing pitch.
 12. The bridging deviceaccording to claim 9, wherein the tooth profile and/or the tooth profilesegments (9) are arranged as single-piece forgings or castings.
 13. Thebridging device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic sealingprofiles are clamped continuously between the at least one plate andtooth profile over their entire length.